Tony Docherty is well placed to offer an assessment on the most recent Heart of Midlothian addition Malachi Boateng.

The club tied the midfielder down on a three-year deal, signing him permanently from Crystal Palace following loan spells at Queen's Park and then Dundee, working under Docherty at the latter.

The midfielder became the club's eighth summer signing in the build-up to the Scottish Premiership opener with Rangers last weekend. He would make his debut as a second-half substitute, Hearts becoming the third team in Scotland he has played for in the last three years. Boateng will return to Dens Park this weekend. 

“Mal is a good player and a really good boy," Docherty said. "He is a very technical footballer. He’s good in terms of possession.

“He’s a great character as well and I felt he really fitted into our dressing room. I’m pleased for Mal because I still keep in touch with him regularly.

“He was one of those you enjoy your relationship with as a manager. I’m not surprised to see his career progressing the way it is."

The games between Hearts and Dundee produced plenty of entertainment with two 3-2 thrillers in the space of two weeks across January and February.

“They were brilliant games," Docherty reaclled. "We got the better of them in the first game at Dens. The next two could have gone either way. We went 2-0 up at Tynecastle and were particularly strong in the first half. We got caught up a little bit in the second half.

“In the next game at Dens, it was the odd goal that won it again and there were a couple of decisions which went against us which I’m sure you will remember.

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“But the games in general were two teams going at it. There were so many changes within the games tactically. Myself and Naisy are both managers who want to go and win their games, to try and get their game plan over the opposition.

“So I expect the exact same on Saturday. I expect a really entertaining end-to-end game."

Docherty reserved praise for Steven Naismith and Hearts but believes some weaknesses can be exploited, not that he was ready to give them away.

"I thought he had a fantastic season and his team did consistently well and they have started this season well as well," he said. "We’ve had a good look at them and identified a lot of strengths in their team and also weaknesses and it’s important for us as a team and me as manager to negate the strengths and exploit the weaknesses.

"But they are a good side and they had a very strong performance against Rangers at home and we are very aware of that. But I am very much concerned about my team and how we do on the day."

Steven Naismith was promoting Premier Sports' live and exclusive coverage of Dundee v Hearts on Saturday. Premier Sports is available to stream from premiersports.com or via your TV provider on Sy, Virgin TV and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription.